Japanese interest in the Xbox 360 increasing

A survey published in this week’s Famitsu magazine in Japan indicates that Japanese interest in the Xbox 360 has grown from 6% to 22% following the Tokyo Game Show. Japanese support for the Xbox 360 appears to have been steadily rising: in July 2005, interest in Microsoft’s next-generation console was at a low of 2%.

This figure tripled to 6% in the lead-up to the Tokyo Game Show, at which Microsoft’s strong lineup of Japanese-oriented games sparked a surge of interest in the Xbox 360 console.

Microsoft believes the original Xbox’s poor sales in Japan were mainly caused by a lack of compelling games, rather than any underlying design flaws with its first-generation console.

As Microsoft’s Chief Xbox Officer Robbie Bach puts it,

“Ultimately if we had great games, people would have put a big, black Xbox in the living room.”

The showing of popular Japanese game titles at the Tokyo Game Show, such as Bomberman, Armored Core and Ridge Racer, coupled with strong support from third-party Japanese game developers, may help to increase Microsoft’s share in the Japanese market with the next-generation Xbox 360 console.